When Hepcat's COBRA ended, we were in dire need of a reasonably priced health insurance plan. After quite a bit of agonizing and research, we signed on for Freelancers Union Health Insurance.
So far, so good.
Today I got this note from the FU about the New York Observer, which is reportedly having such a tough time paying their bills that they've stopped paying freelancers.
As afreelancer I know, we're often the last to be paid—or the first to be stiffed when times get tough. So the Freelancers Union is asking their membership to make a stink.
(After all, these are journalists! Maybe they can take a page from Wall
Street and freeze pay at the top?) Doesn't mutual benefit mean mutual
responsibility?
Contract writers have been
stonewalled by the paper's payroll department after months of
non-payment. And it's evidently not the first time they've left freelancers in the lurch.
Style Editor Nancy Butkus said it best herself: "What I'm being asked to do is immoral." We couldn't agree more.
But it isn't Nancy's fault. This kind of behavior gets instituted from
the top, and that's why Freelancers Union is committed to making sure
freelancers get paid for the work they do.
The Department of Labor really should institute protections for
freelancers, just like W-2 employees have. But let's tackle the issue
from both ends. Send a message to the newspaper that it's not okay to
balance its budget on the backs of independent workers.
Click here to tell the New York Observer to pay its freelancers on time, every time.
Best,
Althea Erickson
Senior Manager of Advocacy and Policy